If you live in New York City, you know you're going to change your address, phone number, and job more than once. That was as true in 1989 as it is today. And it was in 1989 that iconic private detective Dan Fortune made his final move, leaving New York's towering skyscrapers and dangerous alleys for Santa Barbara's swaying palm trees and sandy beaches - and Kay Michaels. Fortune was in love, real love, in fact he was so in love with Kay - a tall, beautiful model - that they're living together. "Kay's a woman, not an actress," he explained. But before he can really settle in with her, Fortune finds Santa Barbara isn't the paradise that locals like to believe. A young man named Billy Owen is missing, and Dan is hired to find him. Billy always wanted to be a hero, a white knight who rode in to save the day. In truth, he's part of a gun-running operation in Central America and he's the black sheep of his family. His brother, Frank, is looking for the kid, too, but the only clue to Billy's disappearance is the murder of Billy's shadowy Latin friend. When someone shoots at Fortune and tries to murder Frank, it becomes clear that Billy's latest mission of glory has put him in over his head. Fortune faces danger on all fronts - from a ruthless, wealthy family to the FBI and CIA. Then Billy also turns up dead, and the mystery suddenly deepens, leading Fortune from New York's bohemian Chelsea neighborhood to California's Santa Ynez Valley and a seemingly forgotten world where the old unwritten codes of the cowboy still stand.